Time passed in silence for the next hour and a half as Isaac and I read. I did bother him once about using magic so I could check on the cider, and then nearly got my face blasted with steam as he lifted the lid with wind magic.

As time went on, a few younger knights appeared and started setting up the campfire a few yards away from ours.

I whispered to Isaac, "Are they starting to prepare their own dinner?"

He nodded, "How much longer do you think your cider will take?"

I checked my watch again before replying.

"Well, looks like it should be ready to drink in thirty minutes or so, but it can always be boiled for longer too."

The knights' movements caught my attention as one of them walked over to where Isaac and I were sitting.

"Good evening Lord Isaac and Lady Corvalia," he said. "May we take a log from your campfire to start our fire? We don't want to waste a match lighting it from scratch."

I looked at Isaac and we both nodded. Isaac set his book down, standing up and saying, "I'll bring over the log, and Corvalia, add some more wood to our fire as well."

I continued watching the knights cook for a little bit, deducing that they were making some sort of stew with meat and vegetables, as well as some kind of flatbread.

Why does that food lowkey look better than what I eat everyday?

Isaac had returned to my side at this point, so I turned to him, asking, "Do you think they'd want some help? I feel bad just sitting here."

He shrugged, replying, "Ok, sure, I don't mind helping. Let's ask them if there's anything for us to do."

The knight who asked us for the log of wood pointed us to the piles of vegetables.

"The potatoes and carrots need to be peeled. Do you want to do that?"

Isaac and I both agreed, and so the knight handed us each a peeler and we got to work, chucking the skins and other waste into the fire. We watched them burn and shrivel up on the coals.